Mechanism for making armored cable.



H. R. GI'LSON.

MECHANISM FOR MAKING ARMORED CABLE.

APPLIGATION FILED AUG. 14, 1911 Patented Feb. 9, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

VY%SSESI M I H. R. GILSON.'

MEOHANISM FOR MAKING ARMORED CABLE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 14, 1911.

Patented Feb. 9, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

1 INVENTOR W? 6 7 M15 l llllll M ya H. R. GILSON.

4 MECHANISM FOR MAKING ARMORED CABLE. I

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 14, 1911.

an area are.

HENRY R. GILSON, BEAVER, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR T NATIONAL METALIMOLIDING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

MECHANISM FOR MAKING ARMORED CABLE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 9, 1915.

To all whom it may concern i Be it known that I, HENRY R. GILSON, re-SldlILQ at Bea er, in the county of Beaver and State of Pennsylvania, acitizen of the United States, have invented or discovered certain newand useful vImprovements in Mechanism for Making Armored Cable, of whichimprovements the following is a specification.

The invention consists in certain improvements upon the machine shownand described in Letters Patent No. "1,004,643,

dated October 3rd, 1911, and has for its object the rendering of themachine more efficient, and the improvement of the product.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation of themachine,partly in section. Figs. 2 and 3 are detail views on an enlarged scale,in plan and in rear elevation respectively, showing the means foradjusting the mandrel. Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view, showing thespacing fingers, Fig. 5 is a cross-section on the line V-V of Fig. 4,looking in the direction of the arrows, and Fig. 6 is an enlarged viewof the mandrel in'elevation and'the strips in section as applied to thecable.

The general construction and operation of the present machine are thesame as particularly shown and described in the Letters Patent abovereferred to. It is provided with the fixedbearingshaft 8, upon which ismounted" the rtating sleeve 9, carrying .the reels 27 and 27* for theinner and outer strips respecti ely, and coiling-head 33 and guides orfeeding means 34- and 31 The mandrelshaft 16 is mounted in the bushingsl5, and'is rotated in the direction opposite to that of the rotation ofthe sleeve 9.

1 The mandrel-shaft 16 and sleeve 9 are b th rotated by the maindriving-shaft 7, which is provided with the fast and loose pulleys 11and 12. The sprocket 19 on shaft 7 is connected by chain 18 with thesprocket l7 on the mandrel-shaft 16, and the pinion 13 on shaft 7 mesheswith the large pinion 14 on the sleeve 9. Thus the mandrel-shaft- 1:8and the mandrel 2,4 are rotated in the directioncpposite'to that of therotation of the sleeve 9, (which latter carries the reels,

' coiling-head and guides for the strips), and

at a higher speed. The mandreLcoil-ing head and reels cooperate in themanner described at length in the said Letters Patent to coil the stripshelicallyi upon the cable not stiff and hard to handle.

armor have been found to vary in their elasticity, due to theunavoidable variation 111 cold-rolling and annealing temperatures. Notonly do the strips forming diflerent reels differ in elasticity, but itfrequentlv happens that the elasticity willvary in different portions ofa single reel, part of the strip being stiff and springy and part beingsoft and easily bent.

In winding a strip on the large diameter of a tapered mandrel. it hasbeen found that, when the strip is soft and well-annealed. it

will follow down the tapered surface of the mandrel gripping it veryclosely and on coming off will draw down easily and snugly upon thewire. therebv bringing the outside diameter of the finished armoredcable to a uniform minimum without excess pressure being requiredby thesizing rolls. In winding the stiffer portions of the strip upon themandrel at the same point the soft portions were wound, it has beenfound that the coils will not draw down cl"sely around the man drel, andon coming off they will not grip the wire snrglv. but requi ean excesspressure from the sizing rolls. This produces a prod- In other Words inthe finished prod ct the coils of armor formed of relatively stiff metalmaintain very nearly the same diameter as the point of the mandrel uponwhich they are first coiled, whereas the diameter of the coils formed ofsoft metal is less than the diameter of the mandrel at the point atwhich they are formed. a

In order to compensate for the difference in elasticity of the strip,and thus obtaln a constant diameter armor without excess pressure beingrequired of the sizing rolls, I gradually taper the mandrel and providemeans for effecting a longitudinal movement thereof with relation to thepoint at which the strip is fed to it. By such an arrangement the softerstrip or portions thereof may be fed to the larger diameter portion ofthe mandrel, and the hard or stifi' strip may be fed to the smallerportion thereof, the result being that a uniform diameter armor will beformed.

Were the soft portions of the strip fed on to the smaller portions ofthe mandrel, the drawing down of the coils would be much greater thanthat in the case of the stiff strip so that these coils. would embedthemselves too deeply into the insulated covering of the wire.Furthermore, in order to lose no time in the operation of the machine sothat a workman may, watch the effect of the mandrel adjustment upon thediameter of the armor, the means of adjustment are of such a characteras to render them capable of operation while the machine is running.

Referring to the illustrative embodiment of my invention, the generalconstruction of the tapered mandrel '24, and the mannerof coiling thestrips therein, is best seen in Fig. 6 and the mandrel shaft adjustingmeans are particularly shown in Figs. 2 and The rear end of themandrel-shaft has fixed thereto the grooved collar 20, within which liethe rollers 65, rctatably attached to the arms 66 of a lever 67, pivotedat 68 to the bracket 69, which is bolted to the rear face of the block6. The lever 67 carries at its outer end a loose pin 70, adapted to fitin holes 71 in the end of the bracket 69, and thus lcck'themandrel-shaft and mandrel in the adjusted position. There are preferablytwo rows of the holes 71, and the shank of the pin 70, is squared and isfitted in the sl t 72 in the lever, so that the pin may be placed in anyhole in either row.

A guide 73, whichmay be simply a round bar, is provided for each of themetallic strips, and is suitably supported by the coiling-frame, as byarms 7-1. A reel 31 for a filling-strip is also shown as carried by thecoiling-frame. l I

In order to secure ex ac t uniformity in the product, spacing fingersl't') are provided, which may be bolted to the rear face of theextension 62 of the coiling-head, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5. The innertips of these fingers lie at diametrically opposite points, and areseparated in longitudinal direction to suit the pitch of the coils, sothat they act to insure uniform. spacing of the successive COllS of theouter strip.

Since the. present machine is otherwise substantially the same as thatshown and described in said Letters Patent, further description isbelieved to be unnecessary. will be obvious however that theimprovements herein described are capable of use 1n machines of othertypes.

1 claim herein as my invention:

1. In a machine for making armored cable, the combination of a gradually.tapered mandrel, means for coiling a metallic strip on the taperedportion thereof, means for adjusting the mandrel longitudinally and withrelation to the position ofthe strip fed thereon, whereby the diameterof the armor being formed may be held constant regardless of variationin the flexibility of the strip, and means for securing the mandrel inadjusted position.

2. In a machine for making armored cable, the combination of a graduallytapered mandrel, means for or iling a metallic strip upon the taperedportion thereof and upon a cable, means for adjusting the mandredlongitudinally and with relati n to the position of the strip fedthereon, whereby the diameter of the armor being formed may bemaintained constant regardless of variations in the flexibility of thestrip, said adjusting means being capable of operation while the machineis running. and means for securing the mandrel in adjusted position.

3. In a machine for making armored cable, the combination of a rotatablemandrel shaft provided on its ends with a gradually tapered mandrel,means for coiling a metallic strip upon the tapered portion thereof andupon a cable, a pivoted lever adapted to engage said shaft for effectingan adjustment thereof, and means for securing said lever in a pluralityof shaft-adjustment positions. i j

4:. In a machine for making armoredcable, the combinaticnof a graduallytapered mandrel, means for-feeding and coiling a metallic strip on'thetapered portion thereof, and means for effecting a relative adjustmentbetween said mandrel and'the means for feeding the strip thereon,whereby the strip may be coiled upon points of the mandrel havingdifferent diameters.

lntestimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

HENRY R. GILSON. v Witnesses: I

. "WILLIAM C. ROBINSON, MARSHALL A. Cinnsry.

